Bengaluru, June 30: Braun Strowman became the Universal Champion in the co-main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 36 when he defeated WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg. It had never been the original plan for the WWE as they wanted Roman Reigns to hold the championship and carry the load of the SmackDown brand from April onwards.

But coronavirus pandemic forced to change the bookings at least twice when WWE was headed towards the biggest event of the year. At first, the plan was for Roman Reigns to defeat The Fiend Bray Wyatt to win the Universal Championship in the already set main event.

But then Goldberg returned at Super ShowDown to win the gold and the plan changed as Roman was to set to defeat Goldberg to win the Universal Championship.

Roman Reigns later pulled out of the WrestleMania 36 card due to health-scare. Braun Strowman replaced him and ended up becoming the 'stop-gap' Universal Champion. However, according to the latest reports of Tom Colohue, things aren’t looking good for Strowman and his title reign could very well be in jeopardy.

It was an emergency situation which handed the first-ever world title of his career. He was never the choice to be a champion in the first place as backstage officials weren't impressed with his attitude. With Wyatt being back on TV, chances are high that he would dethrone the Monster Among Men from his championship reign.

If this happens then Roman Reigns should enter the scene soon as his marquee feud with The Fiend on SmackDown is still due. Here's more from the source,

“With regards to Strowman, he was the right guy at the right time, but he lucked into this Championship. This was never the plan. Unfortunately for Braun, there is a lot of dissenting voices backstage that aren’t necessarily in his corner. There is a lot of debate almost constantly to whether Strowman is the right guy, but the top-level on SmackDown is it’s so bare at the moment.

What I think we’re going to see, is if the Fiend loses, then the Fiend is probably going back to RAW, whereas if The Fiend wins, Roman Reigns is probably returning soon. With regards to Strowman, I’m not sure, and I think that’s a bad sign.” (courtesy wwfoldschool.com)



Braun Strowman is currently scheduled to face the “Eater Of Worlds” version of Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules in a Wyatt Swamp Fight. A lot depends on the outcome of that match as SummerSlam closes in. WWE may intend to bring back Roman Reigns in-time for the second biggest pay-per-view of the year if Wyatt ends up becoming the champion by then.

There is no positive update on The Big Dog's return so far. He's spending quality time with family in quarantine after becoming the father of twins for the second time. He will wait for the novel coronavirus pandemic to slow down or a vaccine to come out to think about a return to action.